Carlos Tanner: Ayahuasca Lessons with Ayahuasca Foundation Founder, Carlos Tanner, Episode 79, The Psychedelic Entrepreneur Podcast 
Carlos Tanner has been studying the science of ayahuasca and plant medicine in the Amazon Rainforest since 2003. He currently works as the director of the Ayahuasca Foundation, a non-profit organization he began in 2009 in Iquitos, Peru. He organizes healing retreats and educational courses led by indigenous healers, called curanderos, to help people in need of healing anything from depression to cancer or who are interested in learning the ancestral healing traditions of the Amazon.
Since 2017, the Ayahuasca Foundation has also hosted plant medicine research looking into the effects of treatment with ayahuasca on depression, anxiety, and trauma. In 2021, that research was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, demonstrating that attending an ayahuasca retreat can produce epigenetic changes that significantly reduce depression and anxiety. Research continues at the center and will now include studying chronic pain, PTSD, and changes to the gut biome as a result of attending an ayahuasca retreat.
In this episode, Carlos Tanner and Beth Weinstein discuss…
- How Carlos found his life’s purpose through his experience healing from opiate addiction with the help of ayahuasca
- The cultural impact of celebrities coming out of the psychedelic closet
- Transformation as a lifelong journey
- The question of whether the exponential growth of interest in ayahuasca is positive
- How the meaning of “medicine” differs between modern Western vs. indigenous traditions
- Ayahuasca as synonymous with ceremony
- Carlos’ view that sustainable use of ayahuasca is possible because it is such a valuable commodity that more and more people are growing
- The issue of cultural appropriation and parallels between Westerners using ayahuasca and Westerners practicing yoga and meditation
- Ayahuasca as a communication method for the earth to bring its cellular activity into alignment
- Whether ayahuasca should be free for everyone who could benefit
- Common judgements around indigenous people being paid to preserve their cultural identity and local environment
- The critical importance of the connection and reverence you feel with your ayahuasca facilitator
Carlos Tanner’s Links & Resources
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- Website ▶: https://www.ayahuascafoundation.org/
- Instagram ▶: https://www.instagram.com/ayahuascafoundation/
- Facebook ▶: https://www.facebook.com/ayahuascaretreats
- Twitter ▶: http://www.twitter.com/AyahuascaFound
- LinkedIn ▶: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ayahuasca-foundation/
- YouTube ▶: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMhs4h2WMbYZ1_d58I4j8Dw
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